5-Ingredient Quinoa Pizza Crust (Vegan, Primal, Gluten-Free)

Quinoa pizza crust has been on my list of recipes to blog about for literally years now.

I’ve made variations a time or two in the past, only to be disappointed by the bitterness of the quinoa, texture, or major pan ‘stickage’.

All is different now.

With just a few tweaks, nips, and tucks, this recipe has gone from being a good, gluten-free base, to being a fabulous substitute for anyone with allergies or the inclination to be a bit healthier.

Though I adore my Zucchini Pizza Crust and, in particular, Personal Pan Cauliflower Crust, there’s always room for pizza variations. Since eating the same food over and over leaves me more vulnerable to develop an allergy to it, it is nice to have multiple alternatives for my favorite meals.

Obviously, this recipe is made with quinoa, so if you’re not a fan of the seed, you may want to consider another healthy variation. If you’re like me, however, and love quinoa, then I truly believe you’ll adore it like this!

This pizza is soft, yet sturdy, with crunchy edges and a filling bite. It is a terrific and EASY stand-in for any wheat-laden variety, and it packs a substantial protein punch!

I’m not allergic to cheese, thankfully, so I use a part-skim mozzarella and parmesan combination, but if you have allergies or are vegan, you could top this with any number of vegetables or alternative cheeses. A sprinkling of nutritional yeast is also delicious!

Whatever variation you make, I am certain that you will LOVE this!

What is your favorite way to top a pizza?

I’m a fan of using caramelized onions, sautéed arugula, and crumbled goat cheese together. SO good!

This looks delicious! I haven’t yet thrown my hat into the alternative pizza crust ring but I think this will be the first one I try. I love pizza, I love quinoa, so what am I waiting for? Thanks for the great recipe! Sharon recently posted..Fudgy Coco-Oat Squares – Gluten Free

This looks lovely and I’ve tried quinoa pizza bases before and have noticed a bitter after taste (though the others who ate it didn’t – strange) which has put me off making them again (despite the rinsing).

Do you think the baking powder has somehow neutralised the taste because I’ve not added that in before?

I think it might! I can’t say for certain because on my last trial, I added the baking powder AND rinsed the quinoa before soaking it. I think the rinsing is the biggest and most important step in reducing the bitterness. I hope you enjoy it if you try it Vicky!

This is incredible! I love making pizza but hate making crust so I usually buy the fresh dough. However this is easy and so healthy! Also my new fav way to top a pizza is the Bahn Mi pizza I made this weekend!sarah@thesweetlife recently posted..Easy Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)

I need to try quinoa crust; I cook with quinoa all the time but never thought of making pizza crust with it.
Thanks for the inspiration Lauren!Mike @TheIronYou recently posted..Cauliflower Crust Spinach White Pizza

Such a great idea! Love that it’s a healthy, grain-free and more substantial crust. As much as I love my cauliflower or meat crusts, it just doesn’t come close to a real one!Jenni @ Fitzala recently posted..The New and Improved Nutrition Label

This looks so yummy! We love quinoa and we love pizza and have been looking for something just like this! I am new to the cooking world. I have a couple questions, I feel so dumb asking, but is the quinoa cooked before you put it in the food processor? Do you think I could use my Vitamix if I don’t have a food processor? Also, could I use foil instead of parchment paper? Thanks so much, I am excited to try this!

Hi Lauren, I’ve been through a lot of experimentation with the gluten-free pizza crusts (though I also make wheat ones) but have never heard of a quinoa-based one, this looks very promising. I have never been one to rinse my quinoa and have been under the impression that most of them are now pre-rinsed to remove the saponins, haven’t had any problem with bitterness. That said, I don’t really know for sure whether the quinoa I buy is pre-rinsed. There’s always something more to find out about our food!Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Early Spring Chopped Salad with Asparagus and Cauliflower

I’ve never tried the pre-rinsed quinoa, so I can’t say for sure… I’m really hesitant to buy any food that has been tampered with by the company in any way, so I usually buy quinoa in bulk. You never know what they’re using to ‘rinse’ it! :-/ I hope you get a chance to try this out!

I suppose how it’s pre-rinsed is an issue, and not one I’ve had a chance to investigate. In general, though, I trust my food co-op to select healthy foods to sell, so I’m giving this a shot without all the soaking in the recipe. It’s just in the oven now, I’ll check back later and let you know how it worked out.Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals: Part I

Hi Lauren. I made two crusts. Each one was a double recipe, because it’s a delicate and sticky dough (like all gluten-free crusts as far as I know) and the extra dough made it much easier for me to get it patted and rolled out to the proper size. My husband and I liked the chewy yet crunchy crust that resulted. It had a strong quinoa flavor– yours perhaps didn’t after the extensive soaking and rinsing in your recipe. That was fine for me and my husband but my son found the quinoa flavor overwhelmed the topping flavor. I put too much topping on the crust considering how delicate it is, so the pizza had to be eaten with a fork. You only put a little tomato sauce and cheese on it which was wise. I put on tomato sauce, cherry bomb peppers, and leftovers from a stir-fry including fried tempeh, bell pepper chunks, snow peas, and pineapples, and topped it all with smoked Beecher’s flagship cheese. The two pizzas made a very light dinner for three. Good stuff, thanks for the recipe!Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals: Part I

Wow this looks amazing and so easy to make. I would never imagine a quinoa base being firm enough to pick up in slices and not fall apart…but this looks like it works a treat. Definitely something I’m going to try soon Natalie Tamara recently posted..Fa-loaf-el | Falafel Loaf with Veg Chilli & Lime Lettuce

This was a great idea for a crust, but we found it to be a bit too thick for our liking. I may just cut down the amount of the batter when I pour it on the pan and make it thinner. However, it was quite magical to have the quinoa look and feel like a crust. I topped our pizzas with goat cheese and some swiss chard, cremini and chanterelle mushrooms sauteed with garlic and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to top it off. The other one I made by mixing bbq sauce and thai peanut sauce plus siracha, fake chicken, raw onions, cilantro and peanuts with a bit of mozzarella cheese. It was very filling. Thank you for the recipe.

You can definitely distribute the batter to your liking or use a larger cake pan. I tried it once with only 1/2 cup of quinoa, and it didn’t seem to work as well. I’m happy you enjoyed the taste at least, and I love your topping ideas!

I’m not entirely sure…if your pizza pan has a rim around it, it might. The batter is a bit ‘runny’ (think pancake batter), just to give you an idea of consistency. It also might be difficult to flip, but you could just try baking it for 20 minutes on one side?…

O my goodness! I LOVE QUINOA!! and Pizza crust quinoa sounds amazing!! I’m just wondering if you could add in some pizza spice in the crust? I picked some up the other day in the organic section and wanted to try it out! Thanks so much for this recipe I will have to try it!

[…] on Thursday night. I normally use a whole-wheat tortilla as a crust of sorts, but had found this quinoa crust recipe that I was dying to try. It was a bit pre-meditated since I had started soaking the grains the […]

Thank you so much for blogging about this and sharing the recipe. I’ve tried the cauliflower pizza crust, and though it tastes great, it is a bit of a pain to prepare. Your quinoa crusts looks perfect and so delicious. Can’t wait to give it a try!:)Nancy/SpicieFoodie recently posted..(Leftover) Spinach Quesadillas and The Spanish Tin Giveaway Winner!

[…] chips, and my husband grilled some chicken legs. We did still have a few hotdogs, pizza (and a few gluten-free quinoa crust pizzas!) and of course cake and ice-cream. (I’m not going to judge you if you have typical party […]

I present the food in the way I think it will photograph best. I offer the nutritional information and WW points as a bonus here and am NOT compensated in any way to do so, so please enjoy the luxury and don’t be so quick to attack my niceties.

• Tapioca Flour – light, white and very smooth flour from cassava
roots. So, try to get involved with the habit of smoking of always transporting certain gluten-free
snacks around along with you anywhere you go, and departing them within the vehicle, or perhaps in your bag, as well as at the desk at the office, to ensure that if you achieve just
a little hungry, you are able to eat something you realize that
the body will have the ability to tolerate.

This recipe is exactly what I was looking for! I tried it out last night, but was very wary, as strange Pinterest concoctions often turn out to be Pinterest fails. I could not have been more wrong!
After 15 minutes in the oven, the crust was totally flippable (I was worried it might not be), and ended up having a perfect crunch. It was so easy, and so delicious, I miss pizza more than anything!

I did make one alteration – I soaked my quinoa overnight, and by the time I put it in the food processor the next day, the grains were so swollen with water that I did not need to add the extra 1/4 cup of water.

We have recently had to go GF and some family members are resisting giving up their Twinkies.We tried your Quinoa pizza crust using rd quinoa, what I had on hand. It took a lot longer to soak enough to feel soft but worked great. The crust was dark and looked almost burnt, I missed the flip it part, but the flavor won my teen-ager over, he was cooing! Could Quinoa flour be used instead of soaking the grain?

I don’t think the flour would work well here. You may want to google ‘quinoa flour pizza crust’ instead. Thanks for your feedback! The quinoa can take longer to soak, depending on how old it is, but I’m happy it worked out for you in the end.

This is a delicious, clever recipe – particularly great for quinoa lovers like me. *However* both times I have made it the parchment paper has stuck to the pizza base like Peregrin Took to Merry Brandybuck. It has been nearly impossible to remove resulting in bits of paper being an unintended, and unwelcome, part of the meal.

Can you give me an idea of what I’m doing wrong. From the photos it appears your base is thicker than mine – could that be the cause?

Yep – lots of oil, tried both olive and canola oil
You would laugh: I ended up burning off the paper with a chef’s blowtorch the other night! This crust is so delicious I really want to make it again but without the theatrics.

One other thing Jarred, are you sure you’re using parchment paper and not wax paper? I don’t mean to come across condescending at all, but parchment paper is made for baking, so I’m super surprised that it would stick!

If you’re using the right paper, maybe try placing the pan on the top rack in your oven and even lowering the temperature a bit. I hope it comes out if you try it again!

JarredJuly 20, 2014 at 11:25 am

Yup, definitely parchment paper. I have two plans: I’m buying a silicon baking sheet to try with that, and I think I’ve been doing the crust too thin. Round here we eat super-thin pizza crusts and I suspect that’s where the problem lies. I’ll let you know how it goes

Tried it tonight and LOVED it!!! My family (not eating the same way as I am) thought it smelled terrible, but it tasted great Kind of a polenta-texture, which I can’t have due to corn sensitivity, so I may use it as a sub for polenta in the future. I also have a tomato allergy, so I blended a jar of roasted red peppers in olive oil with roasted garlic until it was slightly chunky and added some oregano. My toppings were bland (ham and low fat mozzarella) so next time I’ll add some italian seasoning or try different toppings. I just have to think in advance about wanting pizza due to the soaking of quinoa, but I’m glad I can partake in “pizza night” with the family then it will be worth planning ahead! Thanks so much for this meal-changing recipe!

Tried this recipe tonight, I made a double batch and got two pizzas out of it. It was soo yum! My boyfriend loved it too I accidentally put the oil in with the mixture, I was a bit too quick reading the recipe, but it worked fine still! Also I prefer this crust a bit thinner although the thicker version was yum too.
Thanks for this great recipe!

[…] is certainly no secret: search it online and you’ll find recipes for quinoa burgers, pizza crusts, sushi and even desserts. But, quinoa has also served to introduce us to a world of other ancient […]

Please pardon this beginner’s question, but why is the salt included? Is it purely for taste or does it play a role in making the crust bake correctly? I am trying to limit salt as much as possible, but I can handle some if it is “functional”
I did do a bunch of searches before asking, but to no avail. As a person who has operated an oven for many years but only very recently started cooking and baking, I’m a 50 year old kindergartner in the food world!
Thank you

I tried this tonight (with no salt) and it was great! I actually divided the quinoa into two 9 inch pans and ended up with crusts less than a quarter inch thick that held together wonderfully. I reduced the first 15 minute time to 10 minutes. One was baked with toppings for 8 minutes and the other for about 12 minutes which ended up with crispy edges. I can’t wait to try this again. Thank you for the help!

This is a great crust! We thoroughly enjoyed it! I removed it a bit too early (I was hungry!), and I would recommend baking the full amount of time. I did mine in a lodge 10.5″ round griddle. Quick, easy and husband approved! Can’t ask for more than that! Thanks for the great addition to my recipe box!

I used multicolour quinoa, which gave it a nice colour. I also used a springform cake pan, which made it very easy to get out. It cooked right up like a thin pizza and the really strong quinoa smell from the batter seemed to disappear. I topped it with tomato sauce, red pepper, parm, and anchovies. It held up really well. Ate it with my hands and everything!

Definitely not a replacement for the real deal for me, but I’ll definitely make it again!

THIS WAS SO YUMMY!! (:
BUT I made the dumb mistake of freaking out and trying to flip the crust too early, resulting in half of it being peeled off and stuck to the parchment paper….that I DID actually Misto with olive oil, but go figure.
I’m so afraid of burning it, I was wondering if while the crust bakes will it unstick and rise off the parchment paper?
Also, I added 3/4 of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of baking soda…idk if that had anything to do with it?Abbie recently posted..Photo

Yes, as the crust bakes, it should be easy to pull the parchment paper away (when you come to the point of flipping). I don’t think the baking soda/powder combo would have created an issue, though I can’t say for sure. Just follow the directions to get the best results next time.

I tried it again tonight!
It turned out so authentic and crispy!!
I topped it with tomato sauce, hummus, carrots slices, some turkey and onion, and Italian seasoning.
The Italian seasoning really made it smell just like a regular pizza!

I added only 1 tsp baking powder, and baked the first side for 27 minutes, the 2nd for 15 minutes.
I also put it in a 9″ x 9″ round Wilton cake pan. It did the trick!
This is now a staple recipe for me, thank you so much!!!
I’m curious, do you think if I baked it less on each side & took it out while it’s still sort of ‘under-baked’ if it’d be a good pita or tortilla wrap? Abbie recently posted..Photo

Yay, I’m so happy it worked for you! I’m not sure about the wrap/tortilla…you might consider thinning the batter and cooking it in a non-stick pan, like you would for a regular flour tortilla, to get that effect.

[…] use a full cup) for me, and Scott had meatballs, zucchini noodles and sauce on top of one of the 5 Ingredient Quinoa Pizza Crusts I made last week. I used the delicious homemade tomato sauce I posted about a few days […]

I have made this crust quite often and I love it!! However, for some reason quinoa is hard for me to digest. I am not sure if you are familiar with millet or not, but similar to quinoa

•It is gluten-free
•It is a “smart” carb, Millet is low on the glycemic index and digests efficiently
•It is very high in fiber
•It is high protein

I was wondering if experimenting with millet is something you would consider doing. I am looking for a grain free easy crust to make for my family. What are your thoughts on using millet instead of quinoa.

I haven’t worked with millet much up to this point, but I was just reading up on it and how it’s one of the least allergenic grains, which appeals to me. If I play with it and come up with something, I’ll definitely post it!

I made the quinoa crust for the first time tonight, and it turned out very well — crunchy and chewy, with a mild flavor. I skipped the parchment paper and poured the dough into a well-oiled, preheated, cast iron skillet. I cooked the crust in the oven, as directed. The lazy woman’s method!

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Welcome! I'm Lauren, a business graduate with a penchant for all things culinary. It is my goal to create the healthiest recipes possible without sacrificing taste. I eat a little bit of everything, so you will find a vast variety of delicious recipes to choose from. Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy!

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